Anthony Daly: This was Kilkenny's most cherished Leinster title in two decades

Cork, meanwhile, will be disappointed when the chance was there but did they run out of gas?

Eoin Cody, left, and Cillian Buckley celebrate Kilkenny’s win against Galway in the Leinster SHC final at Croke Park. Pictures: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

In my first Leinster final as Dublin manager in 2009, one of the most soul-destroying memories from that narrow defeat was watching Michael Fennelly accept the Bob O’Keeffe trophy in his tracksuit bottoms. Mick wasn’t the first non-playing Kilkenny captain to lift the Leinster title but the whole experience felt even more empty and soulless when I was trying to picture Dublin’s reaction in the same position.

For years, Kilkenny celebrated Leinster titles like getting three stars on a National Lottery scratch card. If it meant anything, they certainly didn’t show it. But four years without Bob O’Keeffe is considered a famine, so Saturday’s win was the most cherished Leinster title Kilkenny have won in over two decades. The reaction from the players afterwards proved as much.